Belkin arrived at his conclusion by estimating how many closeted transgender people currently serve, and examining the precedent set by Australia, which already funds transgender-related care. The surgery and hormone therapy often included in transition care for transgender individuals can run around $30,000 over the course of several years. Belkin predicts that about 188 service members would receive such care. The prevalence of transgender individuals in the military is twice as high as in the general population—a fact that might be attributable to “many transgender women – those born male but identifying as female – seek[ing] to prove to themselves that they are not transgender by joining the military and trying to fit into its hypermasculine culture,” Belkin told Reuters.